Chelsea has seven first team contracts expiring this summer. Regardless of what happens with the ban, all but two of those should be left to expire.
The transfer ban leaves many balls up in the air until it is certain when or if it begins. Players on loan are wondering if they will return to the Bridge to supplement the squad or whether they will be sent out again. Seven players are wondering if they will still be Chelsea players next season as their contracts run down.
Robert Green, Willy Caballero, Gary Cahill, Gonzalo Higuain (on loan), David Luiz, Mateo Kovacic (on loan), and Olivier Giroud all have a few months left on their current contracts. And regardless of what happens with the ban this summer, Chelsea should only look to extend two of those players.
The two loanees are a slightly unique situation. If Chelsea does face a ban, the Blues cannot register new players which is another way of saying they cannot buy or loan in players. Kovacic’s deal was only ever for one year. It was never made clear if there was a buy clause in the contract but if the ban is immediate it will not matter. It will not matter regardless because Kovacic is not the kind of player Chelsea needs right now (especially not for the price he would surely command).
Higuain’s loan deal is more complicated. Currently, it is a short term loan but attached to that contract are two clauses. One clause is extending the loan for another season. The other is to buy him outright. But again, if Chelsea’s ban is immediate, then they cannot keep hold of Higuain. Extending the loan would be a new registration and a ban would prevent that in the same way it would buying him permanently.
Of course, Chelsea should not even be considering keeping hold of Higuain. The issues with bringing him in were clear in the summer and even more so in the winter, but Chelsea backed Maurizio Sarri with his choice regardless. Sarri wants Higuain to return if possible, but this is one of the rare instances where the board should trust their gut and tell him “absolutely not”.
Green and Cahill are, unfortunately, throw away options. Green was brought in pretty much exclusively because he is homegrown. Ban or no ban, Chelsea has enough home grown keepers coming up through the loan army or the academy that they do not need to extend Green.
Cahill suffers from being disregarded from the start. Cahill is the captain but like many players this season, an opinion was formed on him before he kicked a ball. Even if Sarri leaves this summer, it is unlikely the next manager will make room for Cahill now that he has barely played for a season. It is an unfortunate end the Chelsea career of a player who always seemed to fight his way into contention.
Luiz is the up in the air option that should quickly be brought down onto the side of “do not extend”. Luiz has had his moments in his Chelsea career(s). But those moments have so often been punctuated by ridiculous mistakes and blaming of others. Coming into this season, there was no reason why Luiz should still be a starter in 2019. And yet he remains that. With centerbacks coming through the pipeline, Chelsea should once again tell Sarri no on one of his favorite players for the good of the club.
That leaves just two players on expiring contracts that should be extended. One has supposedly already been extended despite the player (rightfully) sounding off about his playing time. Giroud will have little choice because of how his contract is set up but he is a fantastic leader to have in the locker room. And if Sarri decides to play form over favoritism, then Giroud is the man to lead the line currently.
The last remaining player is Caballero. He is aging and not home grown, but it would be surprising to see Chelsea promote a loan army keeper to second choice or go buy another keeper so long as Caballero is willing to fill the role. He is not the perfect back up keeper (though who is?) but he can get the job done.
Chelsea needs a refresh regardless of what happens with the ban. The 30+1 rule has long been the club’s way of doing that and it should not change for most of the players seeing their contracts run out. They do not add what John Terry or Frank Lampard added as their time ran out. The club needs to do what is best and for most of these players, that means a handshake and a goodbye as others are allowed to fill their seats.